POISONOUS AND NON-POISONOUS SNAKES. 95 



loreal, whilst others have none, and in the same way whilst the 

 majority of harmless snakes possess a loreal, many do not. It is a 

 character, therefore, when taken by itself, of no weight in one direction 

 or the other. 



3. Other methods, such as shape of head, charaoteristic contour 

 of body and peculiarities of tail, etc., which some affect to be able to 

 judge by, are of still less value than the foregoing, and must lead 

 many, except those of more thaa ordinary knowledge of the subject, 

 into frequent mistakes. 



4. A note of warning should here be offered to those who attempt 

 to learn to recognise snakes solely by their colour and markings, for 

 of all the methods employed this is perhaps the most faulty. 



Fallacies. — (a) Even supposing the colour and markings were 

 invariably the same in the same species, it is highly improbable 

 that any ordinary man will carry away so perfect a mental picture 

 of these, that they would be of any use to him, say six months 

 later, when he happened to kill a somewhat similar specimen. 

 (b) It happens, however, that the colour and markings vary 

 considerably in different specimens of the same species. The young, 

 in very many instances, are so different from the adult as to pre- 

 clude the possibility from colour alone of being recognised. Even 

 adult specimens are often so different that various colour varieties in 

 many species have received special names. A snake before casting its 

 slough is often very different in appearance from what it is after this 

 process, when fresher and brighter hues and well defined marks 

 replace dingy colouring and obscure markings. Colours alter and 

 fade, soma more than others, in spirit, and fresh specimens by com- 

 parison may appear very diff'erent. For the above reasons also even 

 the best coloured plates are of very doubtful value, for though they 

 may assist one very often, they undoubtedly mislead one at times. 



It will be readily appreciated after the foregoing remarks that none 

 of the usual rules made use of are trustworthy, and that this being so 

 other methods must be sought if positive information is to be gathered, 

 and the only methods that will yield satisfactory results, and permit of 

 accurate coe elusions being drawn, consists in a study of the arrange- 

 ment and variations of the scales of different parts. By the aid of the 

 appended outlines I hope to make this matter not only comprehensible 



